California defiant as Trump administration threatens to halt highway funds over smog
The Trump administration is threatening to withhold highway funding from California if it doesn't clean up its air quality. But California leaders are firing back, hard — and accusing the federal government of actually preventing it from cleaning up its pollution.
“We won’t be intimidated by this brazen political stunt,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said in a defiant statement after the Environmental Protection Agency threat.
California leaders are angry that the Trump administration took away California's authority to curb greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles last week — which they have repeatedly argued would also help it clean up lung-choking smog in the state.
“We won’t go back to the days when our air was the color of mud,” Newsom said. “We won’t relive entire summers when spending time outside amounted to a public health risk.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-energy-202/2019/09/25/the-energy-202-california-defiant-as-trump-administration-threatens-to-halt-highway-funds-over-smog/5d8a4fb8602ff14beb3da8a5/